


Noose

by kcstories



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Community: hp_unfaithful, F/M, Infidelity, M/M, affair fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-01-21
Updated: 2009-01-21
Packaged: 2017-10-14 12:52:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/149413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kcstories/pseuds/kcstories
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ten years of marriage, two children, and this is what things have come to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Noose

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the "Fabulous No-Pressure Laissez-Faire Challenge" at hp_unfaithful.  
> Pairings: Harry/Draco, Harry/Ginny.  
> Warnings: Angst. Infidelity/Adultery. Not a happy, fluffy tale.

The mid-morning sunlight creeps through the blinds like a stealthy intruder. 

Harry pries one weary eye open and glances at the man still sound asleep close to him. 

_Damn._  Harry sighs. He ended up spending the entire night at Draco's. Again. A nauseating feeling of dread settles at the pit of his stomach. He really should be more careful. If someone were to find out... 

God, ten years of marriage, two children, and this is what things have come to, sneaking off after work to meet his lover. 

The affair started well over a year ago, after an office party Ginny hadn't been able to attend. 

The night was a drunken mistake, or it might just as easily have been: heated kissing in a dark alley, followed by an illicit night at Draco's London flat. 

Looking back, Harry doesn't know why it even happened. 

No, that's a lie. He knows the exact reasons. 

He'd been watching Malfoy for months, ever since the man had come forward to help the Auror Department track down one of the more dangerous elements of the Nott family. The minute Harry set eyes on his old school rival, he was reminded of the day he saved him from that fire, and it occurred to him, rather suddenly, that he had never stopped being affected by Malfoy, not completely, and in some twisted, topsy-turvy way, he had missed him, too. Malfoy had always been the one to provoke and challenge him, an oddly reassuring constant in his life, even if the two of them never did become friends in the end. 

No, and it soon turned out they would skip that step altogether. More than a decade after their turbulent Hogwarts years, they went straight from acquaintances to lovers. 

Reaching for his glasses that are lying somewhere on the bedside table, Harry wonders, not for the first time, what an actual relationship with Draco might be like. The two of them would probably fight a lot, but he doubts whether life would ever get boring, or as suffocating as it presently is with Ginny. 

Harry lets out another solemn sigh. Everyone keeps telling him how incredibly lucky he is to have been blessed with such a beautiful, devoted wife, and true enough, Ginny is pretty and loyal and a wonderful mother, but at the same time, her clinginess also makes him feel trapped, like there's a noose wrapped around his neck that drains his energy and often leaves him feeling like he can barely breathe. He can't explain why he feels that way, really; not rationally, at least. Perhaps he married too young, or settled down with the wrong person. 

"Good morning," a familiar voice says. 

"I-I slept here," Harry blurts out, turning to face the man next to him. "I wasn't supposed to do that." 

"Indeed," comes the dry response. "Still, don't expect me to be sorry you did, Potter." 

Harry frowns—it's easy enough for Malfoy; he's been divorced for a good three years and isn't cheating on anyone—but his irritation immediately vanishes when he catches sight of that smug grin. Even upon waking, that infuriating git manages to look gorgeous. 

"Come here," Draco says, and holds out his arms. 

Harry knows it isn't wise to comply, but he scoots closer before he can stop himself, and then Draco kisses him, and all he can think is that he's already late anyway and the precise extent of his tardiness won't make that much difference. 

  
*

Somewhere between  _The Golden Boar_ , the pub he used to frequent when he first started Auror Training, and the second bus stop, everything suddenly becomes crystal clear. 

Harry's mind is made up. Things cannot go on like this. 

  
*

  
Determined, he walks through the front door, hangs his cloak up in the hall, and finds Ginny sitting on the living room sofa. She beams him a smile. It makes his stomach churn. He knows what he must do, and he already hates himself for it. 

"That's the third time this week you had to stay over at the office," she says. It's a statement, not an accusation. She trusts him through and through, and never suspects a thing, though he sometimes wishes she would. "They work you too hard, you know; bunch of slave drivers! Perhaps I should have a word with Kingsley…" 

Forcing a smile, he braces himself. He must tell her the truth.  _Now._

He doesn't get the chance. 

"Anyway, I have some news," she says, and gives him another smile, this one even wider than the last, as she places a hand on her stomach. "The Mediwitch just left. Remember how I said yesterday that I was feeling a bit poorly?" 

He can't recall that at all, probably wasn't paying attention at the time, but he nods anyway. 

"Right." She takes a deep breath. "Harry, I…" She laughs. "No, I mean, we are expecting." 

Harry's eyes widen. "Oh," he mutters, feeling as though the whole world has just been pulled out from under him. "That's, um, great, Gin. Yeah." 

She jumps up from the sofa, throws her arms around him, and whispers, "I hope it's a girl this time." She hesitates. "That's not an awful thing to say, is it?" 

He cannot find the words to reply, so he shakes his head instead and silently reminds himself to breathe. 

He can't tell her about Draco today, or for a while yet. For now, things will have to continue as they are. 

The noose around his neck tightens further. 

  
*


End file.
